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Mayo girls are regional top seeds

Head basketball coach Dan Gates credited aggressive defense and crisp offense to the early Redbirds lead. Mayo dominated the offensive boards early in the game creating more opportunities for Mayo points.

The Lady Redbirds held a 16-6 lead heading into the second quarter. On the opening possession of the second quarter, Olney had some difficulty getting the ball inbounds due to a tough Mayo defense repeatedly blocking the inbound pass attempts.

After holding Olney to a single free throw, the first offensive possession for Mayo came against a more aggressive Olney defense, but Aubrey Wilson found her way to the basket extending Mayo’s lead to 18-7.

On back-to-back offensive possessions, Stephanie Johnson and Caradan Hoffman scored for the Lady Redbirds and another stolen inbound pass gave Hoffman another 2 points for a 24-7 Mayo lead.

Olney struggled breaking Mayo’s full-court press and a steal and quick lay up by Emma Kemper gave the Redbirds a 26-7 advantage.

With three minutes left in the first half, Coach Gates pulled back the full-court press but Olney continued to have trouble completing passes through the strong Mayo defense.

Two offensive possessions by Olney with less than two minutes left to play in the second quarter both ended in stolen passes by Mayo’s Stephanie Johnson. Johnson went one for one from the free throw line on the first stolen pass followed by a coast-to-coast fast break layup on the second. Mayo held a 30-9 lead at halftime.

The first points of the third quarter came after nearly three minutes of play with Olney sinking a three-pointer which cut Mayo’s lead to 30-12 but less than one minute later, a three by Emma Kemper brought Mayo back to the 21 point lead.

Zoe Sanders went one of two from the free throw line before Caradan Hoffman fired a three-pointer for a 37-12 advantage over Olney.

Olney continued to struggle getting through Mayo’s defense, but turnovers presented a problem offensively for the Lady Redbirds and the Lady Cubs cut Mayo’s lead to 37-18 with one quarter remaining.

The fourth quarter featured a younger line-up for the Lady Redbirds with Jaiden Simpson scoring 2 points under the basket.

Olney executed the last possession of the game with a last second 2-point basket bringing the final score to a 39-22 Mayo victory.

Olney jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in less than one minute of play. Kate Littleton put Mayo’s first points on the board, but Olney answered right back, as Mayo trailed 6-2.

Lindsey Zorn went one of two from the charity stripe to cut Olney’s lead to one-possession, but a quick two-point answer by the Lady Cubs and two more unanswered points gave Olney a 10-3 lead with less than two minutes left in the first quarter.

The Lady Redbirds had some difficulty getting shots to fall until Mady Rigdon went coast-to-coast cutting Olney’s lead to five with just over one minute left in the first.

Olney held a 12-5 lead over Mayo after the first quarter.

The second quarter began with a quick three-pointer by Olney but back-to-back passes to Kate Littleton by Caradan Hoffman and Mady Rigdon resulted in four quick points for Mayo. Rigdon found Lindsey Zorn open under the basket for another two points followed by a deep three-point basket by Rigdon bringing Mayo to a one-possession deficit at 17-14. Lindsey Zorn added another three to the scoreboard tying the game at 17. Olney had one more chance to score and held a 19-17 lead over Mayo at the half.

Mayo’s Kadie Noel scored the first points of the third quarter tying the score at 19 before an Olney free throw and subsequent fast break followed by another fast break with an and-one put Olney back in control at 25-19.

Lindsey Zorn put two more points on the board for Mayo before the end of the quarter with the Lady Redbirds trailing 29-21.

Olney hit a quick 2 points to start the fourth quarter answered by 2 points from Kate Littleton. Mady Rigdon drained another three-pointer for Mayo followed by Caradan Hoffman going two for two at the free throw line bringing Mayo back to a one-possession deficit.

Olney answered with a pair of free throws and a quick three-pointer followed by a pair of free throws by Lindsey Zorn.

One more free throw for Olney with 10.3 seconds to go left Mayo trailing 37-30. A jump shot at the buzzer by Mady Rigdon gave Mayo the final points of the game as the Lady Redbirds fell to the Lady cubs 37-32.